Cook the Books is for everyone who enjoys eating and talking about food. Based in Lewes, East Sussex, we get together for monthly pot-luck suppers and chats as well as 'special edition' author talks and foodie excursions.

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Review: Brighton’s Best Cookbook

I was pleased to join the team at Brighton’s Best Restaurants, and chiefly, food writer Andy Lynes, to celebrate the launch of Brighton’s Best Cookbook this week.

This hardback, full colour volume with over 100 recipes from the top 20 Brighton restaurants is £25 from featured restaurants, City Books, Brighton i360 and online.

It all goes to show what an exciting ‘food city’ Brighton & Hove has become, and it was great to see so many of the town’s top chefs at the launch at Fatto a Mano in Hove. I can report that their pizza is exceedingly good.

Having had a quick nose through the book, some dishes that make me particularly hungry include Bincho Yakitori Japanese Fried Chicken; Plateau Ox Cheek, Turnip and Paris Browns and Little Fish Market Loch Duart Salmon, Posh Potato Salad and Fennel.

Head Chef Duncan Ray of Little Fish Market and Michael Bremner of 64 Degrees (also featured) deserve an extra pat on the back for making it into the Top 50 at the National Restaurant Awards this week.

Editor Andy tells me the chefs initially submitted signature dishes, then changes were made in conversation to ensure a good range.

“It was very nearly Brighton’s Best Octopus Cookbook,” he jokes, as the ingredient is particularly in vogue this year, along with anything frittered. Can I say frittered? To frit? Anyway.

Brighton’s Best Cookbook is an irresistible guide to the contemporary Brighton food scene. I have a hunch it could also become a series, well-thumbed by home cooks and professionals alike.

Perhaps it’s about time we had a Brighton-themed Cook the Books evening?

Brighton’s Best Cookbook
Edited by Andy Lynes (co-founder Brighton’s Best Restaurants)
Photography by Peter Marshall
Published by Chef Publishing, May 2017
RRP: £25

Brighton is one of the most exciting and dynamic dining destinations in the country and now you can cook the food that has put the city on the UK’s gastronomic map in your own home - Chef Publishing